Apparatus for finishing roofing units



Dec. 2,' 1930. c. R. M DONALD APPARATUS FOR FINISHING ROOFING UNITS Original Filed March 13, 192 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 2, 1930. R MacDONALD I 1,783,850

APPARATUS FOR FINISHING ROOFING UNITS Original Filed March 15. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [mam Z02":

, Patented I Dec; 2,1930

UNITED "STATES-f PATENr-foFFlC-E .cREs'rER MACDONALD, E RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY, AssIGNoR, BY MEsN As SIGNMENTS, TO THE PATENTAND LICENSING coRro A'rIon, or BOSTON, MASSA- OHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS APPARATUS FOR mmsnme ROOFING mums,

.Original application filed Hai'ch IS, 1926, Serial No. $24,375. Divided and this application filed October v 24, 1927. Serial No. 228,132. '7

application is divided from my application Serial No, 94,377, filedMarch 13,

- 1926, for method of and apparatus for coat-- hing roofing units. The invention has relas, tion'generally to the production of 'roofin materials, and particuarly to those whic comprise a fibrous foundation made resistant to water, wear and weather by the application thereto of suitable waterproofing and wear-resisting substances. Ordinarily a bibulous felt produced on paper-making machinery from-a furnish comprising rags, cellulosic material, hair, wool or asbestos or the like, is employed as the foundation and the sheet is saturated"with asphalt while the latter is in aliquid condition,--usually when molten. The saturated sheet is ordinarily coated on one or both faces with asphalt, usually a relatively high melting point blown asphalt, and is surfaced on one or both faces with a mineral material, suchas crushed slate, sand, fine pebbles or'the like. The sheet of saturated, coated and surfaced felt, is then cut into individual-roofin}; units, such as individual shingles or strip shingles, so called, of various sizes and des either Figure 3or Figure 4.

signs. Because .of the fact thatthe finished sheet is ordinarily flat and relatively thin, a roof covered with such roofing units presents a thin and relatively unsubstantial appearance. An additional disadvantage fiows from the' cutting of the finished sheetsince the 'fibers and'the asphalt are exposed at the cut edges to the action of the elements, there- 3 by causing a more rapid disintegration of the unit.

This invention has for its object to pro vide a .lnethod'of and machine for sealing and thickening the butt portions of roofing 40 units, such as individual shingles or shingle U strips, which have been formed of either unsaturated felt on of felt which has been saturated, coated and surfaced, as hereinbefore descri ed, or its equivalent.. {A further object of the invention is to provide means for'han dling individualpre-cut strips and carrying them through a process of butt thickening automatically.

Accordmg to the invention, a suitable coating material (0. g. high melting-point asphalt) may be applied to the butt portions of the side of the units to be exposed to the weather when laid, and extending around the butt edges, the "coating also being extended upwardly, if desired,-fromthe butt portions 1n spaced tongues to, underlie tab-forming slots in units laid in the course next above.

Another object of the invention is to provide' means for completely surfacing the butt edge of the strip with grit or equivalent material and for rounding 011" the butt edge. Other objects and. advantages will be manifest to one skilled in the art from the disclosure in the drawings, of which,-.

Figure 1 indicates diagrammatically in side elevation apparatus for carrying out It may be again stated that the roofing elements, which are subjected to the process and to the operation of the machine to be described, are first formed in any suitable sizes and shapes by any suitable -machinery. While for most purposes, I propose to treat those elements which have been cut from a sheet of saturated, coated andmineral-surfaced fibrous material, nevertheless, the elements may be cut from an unsaturated sheet,

or one which has been saturated, and, if

desired, coated. I

As will be explained, the elements to be treated are successively and automatically subjected to a coating operation, and then to a surfacin operation, and finally discharged in a nished condition. Referring to the drawings in detail, 1( indicatesa pair of endless conveyors, preferably in the form of chains, to which .may"

be attached suitableclamping devices 11 at regular intervals-adapted to seize eachindividual roofing unit an carry it through the successive steps of the process. The form of strip shingle for which the apparatus as illustrated is more particularly designed to handle is that shown in Figures 3 and 4, that is, a strip shingle of generally rectangular shapehaving slots extending upwardly from the butt edge to form shingle-simulating tabs; but it is to be understood that the same apparatus may be used as it is or withslight alterations to treat roofing units of other shapes.

Strip shingles may be supplied successive- 1y to the clamps 11 by suitable apparatus such as is shown in my co-pending applica tion Serial No. 94,377, hereinbefore referred to, or by hand, or in any other desired way. The clamps 11 may be successively opened as by suitable cams 13 and 14' to receive strip shingles to be treated. In order to prevent the clamps 11-from catching on or interfering with the cam 13 as they pass it,a cam 15 may be provided to tilt the jaws out of the way. The cams 13 and 14 interact with portions of the clamps to open the same for a brief period and then allow them to close. Suitable springs (not shown) may be provided connecting the jaws of each clamp to hold them'normally closed and to draw the jawstogether with suflicient force to grip and support a strip shingle which maybe positioned between them. The conveyors 10 may be carried by a suitable number of sprocket wheels such as shown at 16, 17 and,

18, any or all of these sprocket wheels being drivenas desired. The strip shingles 12 after being supplied to and gripped by the clamps 11 are carried hanging from the clamps 11 by the conveyors 10 to a coating device. This,

as shown in Figure 1, may include a series of striping wheels 19, 1f strlpes such as are indicated at.20 in, Figure 3 are desired. As

" in Figure 1 may receive on their peripheries films of coatin material which are raised from the tank y feed wheels 24. In order to prevent the formation of congealed masses of material on the sides of the wheels 19 and24, suitable scrapers 25, 26 may be. provided. The effect of these scrapers is to con-. fine the coating material to the peripheral a 'eas of'the wheels 19 and 24 and thus to insure-uniform width and'definition of the stripes 20 on the strip shingles. In order to coat the butt portions of the strip shingles 12as shown in Figures 3 or 4, a suitable coating roll 27 is mountedin the path of the advancing strip shin les, the roll 27 being at such an elevation t at as the shingles are successively drawn over the peripheral sur-. face thereof, the butt portions only of the shingles come in contact with the surface of the roll. The roll 27 may dip intoithe pool 22"or may be continuously supplied with a film of coating material on its surface as by 1 covers the butt portion of one face thereof as shown in Figure 4 and also the butt edges.

I prefer usually to drive the roll 27 in a counterclockwise direction so that the film of coating carried by the roll istransferred to the shingles with a wiping action which insures a thorough application of an ample quantity of coating material to the portion of the shingle presented to the roll and to the butt edges. thus coated is carried along to a conveyor belt 29 upon which is deposited from a suitable supply 30 a layer of loose granules of crushed slate, brick, tile, or other comminuted matter suitable for surfacing a roofing element. The'belt 29 is preferably driven so that the upper stretch thereof goes in substantially the same direction as the lower stretch ofthe shingle supporting conveyors 10, the linear speed of the belt 29 being preferably a little less thanthe speed of the conveyors 10. Thus when the butt edge of each strip shingle comes in contact with the grit covered stretch of the belt 29, the.,head portion of the shingle advances beyond and thus rocks the shingle on its butt edge while it is in contact with the grit. At asuitable point in the progress of the shingle, a cam 31 is provided to separate the jaws of theclamps 11 and thus to release successively the shingles held thereby, The shingles thereupon fall flat on the grit-covered stretch of the belt 29 and. are carried along incontact there withbetween suitable press rolls32 which Each strip shingle when a are journaled in such a way as to be pressed together resiliently in order to permit the passage of the thickened portion of the shingle between them without the exertion of undue pressure thereon. Suitable cooling means (not shown) may be provided tochill the coating material after the shingles have passed through the press rolls; vLoose grit on the belt 29 which not taken upv by the strip shingles, may be recovered as by a suitable receptacle 33. The finished shingles may be deposited in a suitable conveyor 34and collected in packages for shipment.

Having thus described certain embodiments of my invention, it should be evident to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications might be made h therein without departing from its spirit orscope as defined by the appended claims.

I claim 1. Apparatus of the class described, comprising means for maintaining a body of liquid coating with a free surface, means for transporting a series of roofing units successively into contact with said coating, and means for drawing said units successively across said free surface whereby a face of each unit is wiped thereon.

2. Apparatus of the class described, C0111- prising' means for suspending roofing units separately and serially with their butt edges down, means for advancing the units thus suspended, a coating roll supported in the path ofthe units whereby its peripheral surface is engaged by the forward faces ofthe advancing units, and means for supplying the peripheral surface of the coating roll with a film of coating material.

3. Apparatus of the class described, comprising means for supplying liquid coating material in spaced vertical stripes to a face of a strip shingle, and means for thereafter applying coating material to the butt portion of said face only and to the butt edge of the shingle.

4. Apparatus of'the class described{comprising means for suspending a series of separate strip shingles by their head portion, means for advancing in succession the shingles thus suspended, a roll mounted beneath said suspending means and engageable by the lower front *face portions of successive advancing shingles, and means for supplying the peripheral surface of the roll with a film of liquid coating material.

5. Apparatus of the class described, comprising means for suspending a series of strip shingles by their head portion, means for advancing the shingles thus suspended, a plurality of spaced striping wheels supported in the path of said shingles and engageable by a face thereof, a roll supported in the path of the shingles and-engageable by the butt portion of said face of the shingles over their entire length, and means for-supplying a film of liquid coating material to said stripf ing Wheels'and to said roll.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature. CHESTER R. MAeDONALDQ 

